1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a beverage packaging unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In present day society people drink a large number of different sorts of beverages, for instance aerated or carbonated beverages, juices, milk, milk-based beverages, and also packaged beer, ale, and wine, for instance in portion-wise packaging units.
The most common packaging units for present day beverages are bottles of varying sizes each with its characteristic appearance, i.e., a cylindrical package that narrows at its top to form an orifice from which the beverage can be drunk. The orifice can be re-sealed with the aid of a screw-threaded cork or a screw cap. The bottles are normally made of plastic, such as PET, or glass.
Another type of common packaging unit is an aluminum can of cylindrical shape, so as to enable such cans to be mutually stacked, and including a characteristic can opening procedure in which part of the aluminum end in the form of a tab is broken away from the upper end of the can to provide an opening from which the contents of the package can be drunk.
Another common type of packaging unit is a Tetra Pak® unit with which a plastic wrapped drinking straw is glued to one of the two largest side surfaces of the Tetra Pak unit. The contents of that packaging unit are typically drunk by removing the straw from the unit and then removing the plastic wrapping and inserting the straw down through a hole provided in the upper side of the Tetra Pak® packaging unit and that is covered with aluminum foil. The contents of the Tetra Pak® unit can then be drunk through the straw.
Another common beverage packaging unit is a glass bottle that includes a cap fitted over the neck orifice of the bottle, and an opening from which the bottle contents can be drunk.
All types of packaging units have certain positive and negative aspects. Generally speaking, some packaging units are not transport effective because they cannot be packed tightly together, while others cannot be re-sealed, and because some other packaging units are unhygienic. The drawbacks are described in more detail hereinafter.
One problem with respect to some packaging units is that they are transported over long distances, most often in large freight vehicles. The shape of cylindrical beverage packaging units prevents optimal use of the freight volume of the vehicle. The typical PET bottles are usually placed in crates, which are then stacked firmly one upon the other. That means that large volumes around the bottles and above and beneath respective bottles go unused. That problem thus also exists with all cylindrical packaging units that have a tapering upper part, where either a screw cork or a screw cap is affixed. Another packaging unit that constitutes a part of this problem is the typical aluminum can, which is also cylindrical and therefore also results in unused freight volume around the cans.
Another problem with many beverage packaging units is that they can not be re-sealed. When such a packaging unit has been opened on a given occasion in order to drink its contents, it is normally either necessary for the person concerned to empty the unit of its contents at one and the same time or to throw away beverage that he/she does not wish to drink subsequent to having opened the unit.
The person drinking from a packaging unit will normally wish to drink a small amount, often at different times, and be able to re-seal the unit so that its remaining contents can be drunk later on. One solution to that problem is a bottle that is sealed with a screw-on cork, for instance a PET-bottle, although those bottles have less effective freight-volume properties, as mentioned above. Other typical beverage packaging units, such as aluminum cans, glass bottles provided with caps, or Tetra Pak® packaging units, cannot be re-sealed.
The unhygienic packaging unit presents a further problem. Aluminum cans are exposed to the surroundings from the manufacture and then during transportation, e.g., to the grocery store, and then within the store itself, and subsequently, until the liquid in respective cans has been drunk. In order to drink from the can, the can is opened and the part of the can that is folded away to provide an opening through which the contents of the can be drunk is folded down into the can, i.e., down into the liquid that is later to be drunk. Some packaging units, among them aluminum cans, are designed so that the person drinking from the unit is forced to place his/her mouth directly against a part of the packaging unit which, as earlier mentioned, has been exposed to the surroundings from the manufacture of the can until the person concerned drinks from the unit. Moreover, the liquid is drunk from the can into which the can part that has been folded away to provide the opening has been immersed. The person who drinks the liquid in the can is thereby exposed to bacteria, virus, and/or toxic substances, for instance, as a result of the direct contact of the person's mouth with both the can and the liquid, which is unhygienic.
One further drawback and problem encountered with the Tetra Pak® packaging unit that includes a drinking straw is that the Tetra Pak® unit is deformable. Consequently, when the unit has been opened with the aid of the straw, and while gripping the Tetra Pak® unit with unaccustomed fingers the unit is squeezed together to such an extent that liquid will gush from the Tetra Pak unit like a fountain and therewith land outside the unit.
All of the above-described problems associated with known beverage packaging technology are solved by means of the present invention, which provides a stackable and re-sealable and hygienic beverage packaging unit.